The EAA Education Committee is glad to announce an online education event on “Warmer Welcome Project: Onboarding new students by a gamified introduction session”.

When: October 28, 2025; 9.15-10.45 Brussels Time

Overview:

Starting university is both exciting and challenging, and many students face difficulties in making the transition from secondary education. At Ghent University, we launched the Warmer Welcome Project to support first-year students from day one. Rather than relying on a traditional lecture-style orientation, we created an interactive, game-based experience that actively involves students. This playful approach not only familiarizes them with university life, but also strengthens their academic self-confidence, satisfaction, and overall well-being.

Objectives: The main objective of this seminar is to share our experiences with an innovative introduction format that has been running for over five years. Participants will gain inspiration on how to welcome first-year students or incoming international students in a warm and effective way. In addition, we will present research findings from a study involving more than 2,000 students. The results reveal that the positive effects extend well beyond the first day, helping students feel more at home in their new environment. The project shows how even small changes in orientation can make a big difference for student well-being during the first semester at the university.

Presenters: Elke Minnaert, Evelien Opdecam (Ghent University)

Session Chair: Patricia Everaert (Ghent University)

Register here

Bios:

Elke Minnaert is a teaching assistant at Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. She teaches the financial accounting tutorials for the first-year students.  She is also part of the project team that redesigned the introduction days for all new students at this faculty.

Evelien Opdecam is associate professor at Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. She teaches in the Training Program for Educators in Economics.  One of her main research lines focuses on the transition from secondary to higher education and she published several studies on this topic.

Patricia Everaert is a full professor of accounting at Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. She teaches financial accounting to first-year students.  Together with Evelien Opdecam, she co-directs the Research Center for Accounting Education at Ghent University (www.accountingeducation.ugent.be)